1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a rotary clip (rotary cylinder, rotary magazine) rotation mechanism for an air gun.
2. Description of the Related Art
As shown in FIG. 11, a rotary clip of an air gun is provided with 6 to 8 circular bores (bullet containment sections) capable of being loaded with a single bullet of BB shot or pellet shot, and the bores are rotated to continuously fire bullets.
Generally, an air gun rotary clip is provided at one or both ends of a substantially rectangular solid shaped magazine body of a magazine, and this magazine is loaded by inserting into a magazine holding section formed from a cavity in the air gun body.
A magazine that has been inserted into the magazine holding section is ejected from the magazine holding section once all bullets contained in the rotary clip bores have been fired, and after reloading the empty bores with bullets it is fitted into the magazine holding section.
A rotary clip loaded into the air gun body is rotated by a rotation member for rotating the rotary clip, but there are occasions where a situation arises where it becomes impossible to rotate the rotary clip due to a bullet remaining between the bore of the rotary clip and the barrel, etc. In this type of situation, if an attempt is made to force the rotary clip to rotate, there is a danger of the mechanism for rotating the rotary clip, or the rotary clip itself, being damaged. In order to prevent this type of damage, there has been known a related art rotary clip rotation mechanism constructed as follows.
As related art 1, by constructing the whole of a mechanism for rotating the rotary clip of a material having comparatively high pliability, such as plastic, for example, damage to the rotary clip rotation mechanism or the rotary clip itself is avoided by deformation such as bending of the members constituting the rotation mechanism at the time of unreasonable force on the rotary clip (U.S. Pat. No. 5,160,795, U.S. Pat. No. 5,400,536, U.S. Pat. No. 5,704,150).
As related art 2, there is a mechanism that makes a tip member (referred to in the following as a nail) of a member for rotating the rotary clip movable, and causing the nail to move in an arc with a rotational axis as a center, to rotate the rotary clip. This rotation mechanism is provided with a spring between the nail and a member for supporting the nail, and the nail is urged in a direction to rotate the rotary clip. When a state then arises where the rotary clip can not be rotated, the nail is rotated about the rotational axis against the urging force of the spring to release engagement with the rotary clip, avoiding damage to the rotary clip rotation mechanism and the rotary clip itself.
Patent Publication 1: U.S. Pat. No. 5,160,795
Patent Publication 2: U.S. Pat. No. 5,400,536
Patent Publication 3: U.S. Pat. No. 5,704,150
However, related art 1 has a simple structure, but synthetic resin such as plastic constituting the material has molding conditions that are easily changed according to temperature and air pressure, and there is a problem in that design of members constituting the rotary clip rotation mechanism, and selection of material and quality control, are difficult.
Also, related art 2 has fewer problems with quality control since the respective members, such as a nail of the rotary clip rotation mechanism, can be formed of a hard material such as metal. However, it is necessary to make the nail itself small in order to ensure space for the nail to move in an arc in the narrow space of the air gun body. Therefore, if the rotary clip is rotated for a long period of time with a small nail, the likelihood of degradation or damage to sections such as the nail is high, and there is a problem that the whole of the rotary clip rotation mechanism lacks durability.